Friday, August 15, 2008

Mac Daddy and our dear friend Shan share a birth date. Shan and her husband Chris were our travel pals back in the day. We whiled away many a day in a pleasant margarita induced stupor in Key West. Our favorite is from Willie T's. Mmmm....on the rocks, with salt. Followed by a heaping platter of chili cheese fries. Arteries, forgive me.

Today's drink is a toast to Mac Daddy and Shan, whom we miss celebrating with!

Classic Margarita

First things first, a margarita should be on the rocks. That frozen stuff from TGIFridays and other apostrophe restaurants of that ilk are lousy. You deserve better. Leave those frozen concoctions to the teeny bopper underage set that doesn't appreciate a fine cocktail yet.

Now serve this in a proper margarita glass. It's a must. Really, it'll taste more islandy this way. I prefer salt, but it's great without too if you're watching your sodium intake. Focus on the alcohol intake instead, for sure.

1 lime wedgeCoarse salt (I use the sea salt from Trader Joe's.)3/4 cup ice cubes1/4 cup tequila (Not the bottom shelf crap you guzzled in college, folks. Who has time for a hangover these days?)1/4 cup orange liqueur1/4 cup lime juice (Go for key limes to really invoke the Conch spirit! Juice from the plastic lime won't do justice to this drink.)

If you want your margarita with salt, rub rims of 2 glasses (because who drinks alone, right?) with the lime wedge. Put some coarse salt in a shallow dish and dip the glass rims into salt. Put a few ice cubes in each glass. In a pitcher, mix the tequila, orange liqueur, and lime juice. Pour equally into glasses. Garnish with lime wedges. Turn up the Jimmy Buffett and sip away.

Come in & grab a cocktail (a new one is posted every week so join us for 5:00 Fridays). Sign up for the RSS feed or simply get new posts delivered to your inbox.

Email me at theewens [at] gmail [dot] com if you'd like to inquire about speaking engagements, advertising or promotions on Dirt & Noise. And hey all you beer/wine/spirits folks out there, I'd love to spread the glory of 5:00. Shoot me a note to see how we could put our heads together. Cheers!